Over 700 comments have been submitted to the USDA regarding new
regulations for ferret care under the Animal Welfare Act!!
 
I've not looked at all the submissions, the new web site is unfortunately
rather slow and awkward.  It takes about 25-30 seconds for each comment
to come up on the screen.  But so far, all but 3 of the comments have
supported new regulations.
 
About half of the submissions are copies of the AFA's form letter,
which can be found at
http://www.ferret.org/pdfs/general/usdaformletter.pdf
 
The deadline for submitting comments is November 18, 2005. To submit
comments electronically, go to
http://www.regulations.gov and enter "ferret" in the Keyword field,
then click on the Submit button. Click on "APHIS-2005-0063" to see a
list of previously submitted comments, or click on the Add Comments
icon to submit your own.
 
Send 4 copies of printed submissions to:
Docket No. 04-088-1
Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3C71
4700 River Road Unit 118
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238
 
Make sure the Docket No. 04-0488-1 is on the letter.
 
It's interesting to browse through some of the comments.  Some are
hand-written by children who are learning at a young age to look out
for the welfare of the pets who depend upon us.  Some tell touching
stories of the suffering of too yound kits in pet stores.  Some are
even from ferret owners and clubs in other countries, including Canada,
The Netherlands and Italy!
 
By the way, did you know that there are species specific regulations not
only for dogs and cats, but for hamsters, guinea pigs and rabbits?  Are
not ferrets as deserving of having their special needs attended to?
 
Be sure to add your letter to the list, and make list better for 10s of
thousands of ferrets!
 
Linda Iroff
International Ferret Congress
http://www.ferretcongress.org
[Posted in FML issue 5030]